Game Reviews

Beware Planet Earth!

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iOS
| Beware Planet Earth!
Get
Beware Planet Earth!
|
iOS
| Beware Planet Earth!

Why aliens would be interested in our cattle is a bit of a mystery. Perhaps they appreciate a good burger. Perhaps their interstellar craft run on butane. Who knows?

Beware Planet Earth! is the latest game to run with this well worn premise, and its mechanics are about as fresh as its central cow-nabbing hook.

Still, underneath some old ideas it's a pretty solid mishmash of tower defence tropes.

Not so fresh meat

The art style and tone here are pure Plants vs Zombies. You use cobbled-together contraptions to fend off a supernatural foe.

There's even an eccentric guide who dispenses advice amidst his humorous ramblings - this time from the constant "safety" of an outhouse.

The gameplay is closer to a traditional twisty-pathed tower defence game than PopCap's regimented lane defence classic though.

There's a pre-set path that snakes through each rural stage. At one end is your herd of cows. At the other is an ominous green vortex which spews out a steady stream of cartoon aliens.

These aliens - normal grunts, speedy ninjas, and berserker clowns (no idea) - toddle along this path at varying speeds, grab a cow, and then head back to the portal.

This gives you two passes to nail them with your defensive towers. You can free nabbed cows, but they take a while to amble back to their grazing spot, and remain vulnerable to getting swiped again.

The fate of the world is at steak

Beware Planet Earth! does have a number of noteworthy little flourishes that set it apart.

You really need to take a look at the enemy preview screen before each level, as well as the level layout, to inform your turret selection.

You soon have more weapon options than available slots, so careful environmental consideration is a must.

There's also a lot for you to do on each level. It's not a simple case of churning out turrets and watching the slaughter.

You have to actively tap and hold on shielded or disguised enemies with your zapper, collect resources before they disappear, overcharge turrets in key choke points, ring a bell to hurry freed cows on their way, and a lot more besides.

It walks the line between overwhelmingly frantic and entertainingly busy, and generally comes out all the better for it.

Beware Planet Earth! isn't particularly novel or interesting like Plants vs Zombies was when it first launched, and it's not outrageously slick like the Kingdom Rush series.

But it provides a pleasantly frantic workload, and enough neat little touches, to be worthy of consideration if you're a tower defence fanatic.

Beware Planet Earth!

A particularly busy if derivative tower defence game with just enough fresh little touches to make things interesting
Score
Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.